AstraZeneca pays $460m for cancer specialists
pharmafile | October 15, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | ADC, AstraZeneca, Cancer, MedImmune, spirogen
AstraZeneca’s biologics arm MedImmune has bought cancer biotech firm Spirogen and set up a licensing deal with ADC Therapeutics for a total of $460 million.
MedImmune which AZ bought in 2006 for $15 billion, has entered into a collaboration agreement with ADC Therapeutics to jointly develop two of ADC Therapeutics’ antibody-drug conjugate programmes in pre-clinical development.
AZ said in a statement that it will also acquire 100% of Spirogen’s shares for $200 million, and could pay up to $240 million to the company if its treatments hit certain milestones.
MedImmune will pay $20 million for an equity investment in ADC Therapeutics, which will be matched by Auven Therapeutics, the majority shareholder in both ADC Therapeutics and Spirogen.
These become the third and fourth deals for MedImmune this year. In June it signed an agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals to find treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity.
And in April it set up a collaboration with biotech firm AlphaCore Pharma to develop drugs to treat high cholesterol.
MedImmune has produced little in terms of drugs for AZ since its purchase seven years’ ago, but the advent of its new chief executive Pascal Soriot (who arrived from Roche last year) has seen the firm injected with a new strategy to buy more R&D led biotech firms, in order to help shore up its own weak portfolio.
‘Warhead’ technology
The Spirogen group was founded in 2001 as a spin-out from several institutions including University College London, and has also received funding by Cancer Research UK.
It has a number of industry collaborations including deals with Roche’s Genentech unit and with ADC Therapeutics, both of which were established in the last two years.
AZ is buying into Spirogen’s proprietary pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) technology, which attaches highly potent cytotoxic agents or ‘warheads’ to specific cancer-targeting antibodies using biodegradable linkers.
This targeting optimises the delivery of the cancer drug to the tumour cells only and provides the greatest degree of tumour killing while minimising the toxicity to the patient.
A number of drugs have already utilised this approach, the most anticipated being Roche’s new breast cancer drug Kadcyla, which combines Herceptin and chemotherapy in one molecule.
It was the first antibody-drug conjugate to reach the market for late-stage breast cancer after being approved by the FDA this year, and the treatment is set to reach blockbuster sales.
Dr Bahija Jallal executive VP of MedImmune explained: “Antibody-drug conjugates are ground-breaking technologies with the potential for directly targeting many types of cancer tumours while safeguarding healthy cells. The cutting-edge technologies developed by Spirogen and ADC Therapeutics complement MedImmune’s innovative antibody engineering capabilities, enabling us to accelerate antibody-drug conjugates into the clinic.”
Oncology is a core therapy area for AstraZeneca with both small molecule and biologics in its portfolio.
MedImmune is looking to develop a portfolio with an emphasis on two key areas in oncology development: antibody-drug conjugates and immune-mediated cancer therapy, which aims to harness the power of the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer.
This kind of mechanism has already been developed by Dendreon in the form of its prostate cancer drug Provenge, the first cancer vaccine to reach the market in 2010. Bristol-Myers Squibb has since launched its cancer vaccine Yervoy, which is designed to help the body’s immune system to recognise and kill late-stage melanoma.
“This deal reflects the very significant progress made by our scientists, most notably over the last two years, as we have applied our warhead and linker technologies to the development of highly potent and specific antibody-drug conjugates,” said Dr Chris Martin, chief executive of Spirogen.
“We believe that pyrrolobenzodiazepine-armed antibody-drug conjugates will emerge as a critical component in the next generation of cancer biologics with the potential to make a difference for oncologists and their patients. We look forward to combining our world-class capabilities in this area with MedImmune’s ability to develop this exciting class of oncology drugs.”
Ben Adams
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